Ben Rhodes Tops Final Practice for Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol

Daytona-winner Ben Rhodes led the way in Friday’s final practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Bristol Motor Speedway’s Dirt Track, posting the session’s fastest time in the opening minutes of the 50-minute practice session.

NASCAR Cup Series veteran Ryan Newman was second, followed by Tanner Gray, Stewart Friesen and Matt Crafton inside the top-five. Newman is looking to qualify his No. 39 Ford F-150 into the event for Diversified Custom Concepts – DCC Racing — owned by Brad Means, son of Xfinity Series owner Jimmy Means.

The session featured a total of five caution flags, three of which were for on-track accidents, including a hard crash by JR Heffner, who had to be towed back to the NCWTS garage.

NCWTS Practice #2 Results:

1. No. 99 – Ben Rhodes – 20.703 – 86.944mph
2. No. 39 – Ryan Newman – 20.716 – 86.889mph
3. No. 15 – Tanner Gray – 20.721 – 86.868mph
4. No. 52 – Stewart Friesen – 20.784 – 86.605mph
5. No. 88 – Matt Crafton – 20.797 – 86.551mph
6. No. 04 – Chase Briscoe – 20.798 – 86.547mph
7. No. 75 – Parker Kligerman – 20.840 – 86.372mph
8. No. 26 – Tyler Ankrum – 20.904 – 86.108mph
9. No. 13 – Johnny Sauter – 20.906 – 86.100mph
10. No. 17 – Kevin Harvick – 20.910 – 86.083mph

Notables:

No. 02 – Daniel Suarez – 17th
No. 1 – Hailie Deegan – 33rd
No. 2 – Sheldon Creed – 11th
No. 4 – John Hunter Nemechek – 22nd
No. 11 – Bubba Wallace – 31st
No. 16 – Austin Hill – 19th
No. 18 – Chandler Smith – 14th
No. 19 – Derek Kraus – 32nd
No. 21 – Zane Smith – 21st
No. 23 – Chase Purdy – 23rd
No. 24 – Raphael Lessard – 16th
No. 38 – Todd Gilliland – 12th
No. 42 – Carson Hocevar – 13th
No. 44 – Kyle Larson – 15th
No. 45 – Brett Moffitt – 25th
No. 51 – Martin Truex Jr. – 18th
No. 98 – Grant Enfinger – 24th

10-Lap Average:

1. No. 39 – Ryan Newman – 85.278mph
2. No. 18 – Chandler Smith – 85.113mph
3. No. 88 – Matt Crafton – 84.942mph
4. No. 23 – Chase Purdy – 84.932mph
5. No. 24 – Raphael Lessard – 84.912mph
6. No. 38 – Todd Gilliland – 84.887mph
7. No. 99 – Ben Rhodes – 84.887mph
8. No. 75 – Parker Kligerman – 84.823mph
9. No. 2 – Sheldon Creed – 84.671mph
10. No. 15 – Tanner Gray – 84.654mph

Most Laps Run:

1. No. 2 – Sheldon Creed – 71 Laps
2. No. 21 – Zane Smith – 71 Laps
3. No. 75 – Parker Kligerman – 63 Laps
4. No. 88 – Matt Crafton – 57 Laps
5. No. 24 – Raphael Lessard – 57 Laps
6. No. 52 – Stewart Friesen – 56 Laps
7. No. 62 – Jessica Friesen – 56 Laps
8. No. 19 – Derek Kraus – 55 Laps
9. No. 02 – Daniel Suarez – 53 Laps
10. No. 18 – Chandler Smith – 52 Laps

NCWTS Practice #2 Incident Tracker / Log:

1. 05:34 – JR Heffner (No. 3) crashes hard on the backstraightaway.
2. 16:17 – Chandler Smith (No. 18) spins around on the racetrack.
3. 23:32 – Debris
4. 37:00 – Bubba Wallace (No. 11) spins entering turn one.
5. 50:00 – Conclusion of Final Practice in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

J.R. Heffner – driving for Jordan Anderson Racing — impacted the inside wall hard in the series’ final practice session, totalling his Chevrolet Silverado. Heffner’s No. 3 had to be towed back to the NCWTS garage.

A tough break for that No. 3 machine. @jrheffnerracing suffers heavy damage during final practice. pic.twitter.com/UG8WPgqJmY

— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 26, 2021

Ohhhhhhhhhhh.@sheldoncreed | @GMSRacingLLC pic.twitter.com/5bK98SoZul

— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 26, 2021